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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
StephenWright has commented on (20) products
Drive To The East Settling Accounts 02
by
Harry Turtledove
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
As World War II explodes, the Confederate States of America attack its neighbor to the north the United States of America; General Patton leads his armored divisions towards the Great Lakes in an effort to split the USA in half before driving to the east. Japan launches an assault on the Hawaiian Islands. Finally Occupied Canada and Mormon Utah see an opportunity to toss out the USA and regain their respective independence. However, the four prong attack that has caused a multi front war for the USA not only fails to break the morale of the Americans, but actually provides a common resolve to repel the invaders. Even the death of President Smith in a Confederacy bombing raid over the capital Philadelphia fails to deter the Americans as Vice Preside Charles Lafollette takes over. In the Confederacy, President Featherstone continues his campaign to dramatically eliminate the freed slaves by making the blacks build concentration camps for their containment and death. USA War Secretary Roosevelt sanctions devastating reprisals against the Mormons and Canadians with the goal to keep themt from the conflict. War is all over North America once again. Book two in Harry Turtledove's alternate World War II trilogy, Settling Accounts, is an action-packed saga that grips readers from start to finish. As always is the case in a Turtledove novel, fans will try to find the comparative real event that the author brings into his universe. The story line is fast-paced even when the descriptions of past events that were described in book one, RETURN ENGAGEMENT, are provided. The sub-genre audience will appreciate this appealing entry that makes the Turtledove universe seems like the real one.
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Time Of The Uprooted
by
Elie Wiesel
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
In 1939, Germany is cleansing Czechoslovakia of the Jewish problem forcing the Friedmans to flee their home for Hungary. The Nazis soon march into Budapest where they continue to implement the final solution. Hoping to keep their son safe, the Friedmans leave their child Gamaliel with a young Christian cabaret singer Ilonka. She keeps him safe until the war ends. Gamaliel ultimately leaves Hungary and settles in New York. Though residing in America for decades, Gamaliel feels displaced, a man without a country. Family life failed him as his wife committed suicide and his daughters hate him and he lost all contact with Ilonka years ago when she seems to have vanished. Work is unfair as he ghost writes for others to gain accolades. He has five fellow lost souls, who can tell interchangeable survival tales and only having to substitute names because their stories are identical. His only solace is the manuscript he has written Secret Book; life is miserable as he feels like a drifting refugee with no place to call home until a doctor asks him to talk with an ailing elderly woman who only speaks Hungarian. Nobel Prize winning Elie Wiesel provides a well written but bleak look at the plight of the nation-less displaced people who once removed from their roots never find homes. Gamaliel is terrific as he reflects back on his melancholy life as a symbolism of all the refugees dislocated and relocated at the whims of the powerful and never knowing when if ever to settle in anticipation of the next dislocation. This is a desolate look at humanity even with a somewhat uplifting climax.
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Match Me If You Can
by
Susan Eliz Phillips
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Sports agent Heath "Python" Champion decides he needs a societal acceptable trophy wife to further his career. The agent of football superstar Kevin Tucker (see THIS HEART OF MINE) does not want to go through the motion of finding someone or bother much beyond the superficial when it comes to the courting ritual. He hires Portia Powers of Power Match, but she wants to control his every move. He then turns around and hires cute but wacky Annabelle Granger, who recently inherited her grandmother's matchmaking business. Between the two companies Heath meets a horde of eligible lovely women, but none of Chicago's finest is good enough for him. Instead he begins thinking of attractive Annabelle who he finds very kissable when they are not arguing and even more kissable when they are. However, Annabelle is the last person a social climber wants by his side so he keeps asking himself why does he want to make a permanent match with the madcap matchmaker? Heath and Annabelle are a fun couple due to their vigorous spats, their vivacious kisses, and finally their undisputed conclusion that each is wrong for the other's career goals. In other words love is a wonderful irritating nuisance. MATCH ME IF YOU CAN is a fine animated contemporary romance starring a delightful duo.
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Roreys Secret
by
Leisha Kelly
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Though life has been hard during the Depression, Samuel and Julia Wortham have weathered the storms through faith while raising their children. The Worthams believe they are blessed as they and their children have been healthy, they still own their Dearing, Illinois farm, and the two remain very happy with one another and with their children. However, in 1938, disaster strikes at the farm of their close friend and neighbor George Hammond when a fire destroys much of his property. After the blaze is put out, but not before much damage to the crops and the barn occurs, everyone begins to wonder what caused the inferno. Most people believe Franky Hammond set the fire except teenage Sarah who feels Rorey caused the disaster as they share a secret that both keeps silent about even as their families struggle with a new beginning with only their faith in God keeping them going. Six years have passed since the Great Depression impacted the Wortham and Hammond families (see KATIE'S DREAM, JULIA'S HOPE AND EMMA'S GIFT) and the children in those tales are now adults or teens. However, the message remains the same though told from new perspectives; that when things seem bleak, hopeless, and darkest salvation and solace is with the Lord. The story line is exciting as readers observe varying viewpoints about the fire and its aftermath. Americana Historical Christian readers will enjoy this fine tale of salvation after the brutal test of fire.
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Giver Of Roses 01 Guardians Of Gadiel
by
Kathleen Morgan
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
The enemy has laid siege on Astara in the Kingdom of Gadiel with only Prince Vartan Karayan standing in the way of conquest. Though physically and mentally exhausted, Vartan continues to lead the counterinsurgency until he is betrayed and subsequently critically wounded in combat left blind to die. A Hylean Lady Danae, who escaped from abusive religious tyranny, saves his life. When Vartan recovers his health including his sight his outlook has changed as he feels a bond with his nurturer though he still struggles with the truth turning towards Danae's God. When the Dragonmaids invite Danae to join them she believes she has found her life's calling. However the price is high as she has fallen in love with Vartan; he makes her decision harder because he not only reciprocates her feelings but needs her at his side praying to the true God to enable them to save his people. The queen of romantic fantasy Kathleen Morgan returns to her regal roots with GIVER OF ROSES, a terrific saga filled with religious symbolism and starring two courageous, battle fatigued champions trying to overcome impossible odds to save their people and each other, not necessarily inclusive. The story line is action packed from the moment Vartan falls in battle, but also insures the relationship between the healer and the patient and their beliefs in the true God evolves. The audience sees the dilemmas and choices that the two heroes must face though that insight at times diminishes the epic proportions of the plot. GIVER OF ROSES is a fine tale with strong spiritual parables that sub-genre fans will cherish.
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Perilous Proposal 1 Carolina Cousins
by
Michael R Phillips
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
During the Civil War slave child Jake detests his yoke and though young shows open signs of rebellion against his master in spite of the warnings from his father. Jake's anger explodes when his dad vanishes as he assumes foul play. Out pf control, he kills a white drifter who he caught molesting his mother. Knowing that in the Confederacy, no black can get justice when a white is involved, Jake runs away. Confederate soldiers capture Jake, but he escapes and joins the Union army. There he meets a kind mentor, Micah, a black soldier, who counseled the lad to let his anger go. Holding a grudge, he deserts the army heading to North Carolina where he is shocked to meet up with his father and a young black woman Mayme who he falls in love with. Even in this southern state Jake goes out of his way to alienate whites who burn crosses on their lawn. Using the Civil War as a backdrop, Michael Phillips provides a rousing exciting inspirational tale that makes a strong case that racism destroys everyone even the innocent. Jake is a fabulous protagonist struggling with devastating blows to his heart. He knows he must forgive his father for deserting his mother and him, but finds it difficult to do so in spite of the encouragement of several women including Mayme to let it go so that he can move on. The cast makes the tale as readers will obtain a taste of how crippling hatred is.
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Mercy Falls
by
William Kent Krueger
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Tamarack County Minnesota, Sheriff Cork O'Connor and deputy Marsha Dross respond to a domestic disturbance between Lucy and Eli Tibodeau on the Iron Lake Reservation, home of the Ojibwe. However, someone begins firing at the law enforcement officials with Dross hit in the stomach in spite of body armor and O'Connor barely escaping. Cork begins pondering why they were ambushed and soon believes that he was the target, but in the dark the culprit mistook the tall big Marsha to be him. Before he can consider who wanted him dead, Cork has a murder investigation to deal with as someone killed despicable Eddie Jacoby whose wealthy family arrive from Chicago demanding instant results. Eddie's father brings with him his own sleuth, former FBI agent Dina Winter to find the culprit. This strong police procedural is enhanced by the hero's doubts when a former law school lover of his wife is part of the Jacoby entourage. However, though that humanizes the sheriff, he remains so stiltedly correct he seems at times unreal especially when compared with the outside muscle. Still the exciting story line is filled with action as Cork works the murder case and the ambush while struggling with jealousy and with the inability to keep the Jacoby crew from destroying his investigations.
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Crawl Space
by
Edie Meidav
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
From 1940-1945, Emile Poulquet served as the Prefecture of Finier in which he exiled thousands to die. After the War, he had cosmetic surgery to disguise himself by eliminating the facial hump his father thought personified evil, but would identify him to authorities on their Nazi sympathizer witch-hunt. In 1999, the authorities catch eight-four years old Emile, who stands trial for his role in genocide over five decades earlier. However, he remains spry and sharp, and escapes. Emile takes the train south to Finier. In the train's lavatory he writes his last will to give to his Arianne, a resistance hero's widow, for he expects that upon returning for the first time since he spent a month there in 1960, this will end his odyssey. In Finier, Emile is sidetracked by the town's wartime reunion that touches his withered soul as he knows he can never participate though he obsesses with the need to join even at the cost of his wasted life. CRAWL SPACE is a deep character study of an octogenarian who knows that even death will not eliminate the guilt that haunts him. His need to "go home" grips readers, but Emile knows that he can never truly go home. Interestingly he feels more remorse over one incident than over sending thousands to their certain death as the latter is more a statistical consequence of his job while the former was caused by his emotions. Edie Meidav does the impossible turning a Nazi butcher into a sympathetic protagonist though the audience will believe he deserves an abode in hell; Emile would affirm that a life with no place to call home is hell.
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Lunar Park
by
Bret Easton Ellis
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Bret Easton Ellis knows he is an egotistical drug abuser, whose dysfunctional relationship with his now deceased abusive father still leaves him unable to hook up with his own son. His former lover, movie star Jayne Dennis offers him redemption through marriage and jointly raising their eleven years old son Robby, whom Bret barely knows. He agrees and the trio along with Jayne's daughter Sarah sired by another freak settle in the New York suburbs while he works on his next porno shocker, Teenage Pussy. Bret cannot cope with the three people he shares a home with especially his distant non-communicative son. He returns to his drug and alcoholic past while chasing college student Aimee. That is until the weirdness begins starting with Terby the mechanical bird suddenly like Chucky coming alive ready to harm all. Neighbor boys vanish, e-mail from his dad's ashes arrive, and gruesome murders from out of his novel AMERICAN PSYCHO haunt the town as much as the spirit haunting Ellis's house demands he writes the sobering paranoid truth; hence this novel. This novel is best for those readers who know Bret Easton Ellis's writing career and "brat pack" days of LESS THAN ZERO in which the author and his cronies symbolize the acceptable excesses of the Reagan Era. The story line lampoons the writer as he stars in an autobiographical fiction in which uses real people that he knew and events to tell his self parody that critiques and criticizes his celebrity status now that he no longer can claim the folly of youthful self indulgence. Terrific biographical fiction just not for everyone as the knowing the "Brat Pack" is a great part of the fun.
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Remains Silent A Novel
by
Michael Baden
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Attorney Philomena "Nanny" Manfred works for the underdog, the indigent, and the ones who have nobody else to turn to for justice. Medical Examiner Dr. Jacob Rosen knows many downtrodden and calls on her when a person he meets needs legal help. In Turner, two hours north of New York City, Jake's mentor requires such assistance. Four sets of skeletal remains were found where a shopping mall is supposed to be built halting construction. The bones belonged to patients incarcerated in a mental hospital that used to be located in the area. Two of the patients are identified and the daughter of one wants to know what happened to her father. Manny agrees to take her case knowing at the time Jake's mentor didn't die from cancer but was murdered. As Jake and Manny investigate, attempts on their lives are made. Neither the lawyer nor the doctor has any intention of quitting intending to discover the secrets of the asylum that someone wants kept buried Readers who love the work of Robin Cook and writers of legal thrillers will find REMAINS SILENT one of the best debut crime thrillers of the year. The romance between Jake and Manny starts slow but eventually picks up steam making it seem believable and realistic. There is plenty of action and many times the protagonists are almost killed, but what makes this book so fascinating is that the readers and characters don't have a clue why.
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Dead Leaves - Two Years in the Rhodesian War
by
Dan Wylie
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
A nitty gritty war novel, written with startingly clarity. A book which I found very moving as well as disturbing. But still something I could not put down. This should be a definite read for anyone with an interest in Rhodesia. A highly recommended book..I would also recommend to fans os Long Way Down, read the best-selling novel--The Fates by Tino Georgiou--of course, that is if you haven't yet.
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The Arrival
by
Shaun Tan
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
While it doesn't take long to "read", its artwork is just so captivating. The reason I put read in quotes is that there aren't any words, just pictures. But the artwork that is there, is just outstanding. You could take forever just engrossed in the beautiful artwork that is inside of this book. The story that is told through this artwork is really great. Its basically the story of a man who travels to a new place and is dependent on the kindness of strangers. All in all, a great story that everyone should take a look at. May I also recommend The Fates by Tino Georgiou.
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Gathering
by
Anne Enright
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
This is a complicated book, one that requires more than one reading with which to fully come to grips. There's a lot going on here, about family, about the ties that bind, about the fact we can never escape the past. Everyone will not like this book, it's too grim and rambling and unfocussed for that, but I did. The story, which is set in Dublin, revolves around Veronica Hegarty, a 30-something wife and mother, who has escaped the clutches of her huge Irish Catholic family She has eight siblings and suffers hardships when her brother, Liam, kills himself. Closest to him in age, Veronica is the one who must pick up the pieces and bring back his body from England, where he drowned himself off Brighton Beach. The first-person narrative is told in a stream-of-consciousness manner from Veronica's perspective. She flits backwards and forwards in time, exploring her family's dark history. She goes as far back as her grandparent's generation as she tries to unravel the story. During the course of the book, which spans Liam's death through to his funeral, Veronica traces the history of the family. But through this we glimpse Veronica's obsessions and see how her personality has been slightly damaged by her rough-and-tumble crowded childhood. Her pain and her anguish is never expressed to the outside world (she cannot even communicate with her husband), but is buried deep inside where it finds expression in Veronica's self-loathing. If nothing else, The Gathering is a portrait of a lost woman coming to grips with her past, her present and her future!!! I would also recommend, if you missed reading TINO GEORGIOU'S masterpiece--THE FATES, go and read it. With fascinating and brilliantly created characters in `THE FATES' coupled with two intertwining plots makes for a completely enjoyable and page-turning read.
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Meaning Of Night
by
Cox, Michael
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
The confession jumps between times, with the writer slowly but surely describing the complicated set of circumstances, the conspiracies against him, that brought him to the killing of the random man in 1854. Then the story continues to its inevitable climax. The early Victorian era in England provides the background for the story. Morals were different in this age, with the rich and powerful having a very different concept of what was right and wrong than the common people, or the people of Western society today for that matter. Even the "good" people in the story (there are a few) sometimes act in ways we find disappointing, even though they were acting morally by their standards. This Victorian background and especially the different moral standards play an important role in the story, and one feels that the atmosphere described in the book is very authentic. It's just depressing that everyone seems to be a villain in one way or another, and conspiracies are rampant. The writer of the confession and the complicated story with several conspiracies against him and his decision to wreak a terrible revenge on "his enemy" do not come across with such a high degree of believability. Especially the confessor's occasional expressions of remorse over the bad things he has done do not ring true. Or is this perhaps the author's intention? The confessor, in his desperate search for justice for himself, becomes just as evil and unjust as his despised enemy. One interesting device used in "The Meaning of Night" is that it begins with an editor's foreword, and the book is full of footnotes and explanations penned by this editor. The fact that we know that this "editor" is fictitious does not reduce the effect. The reader will easily let him/herself be fooled into thinking that this must indeed be an authentic manuscript from 1854 because of the editor's many notes and footnotes. This is a very well written book and very impressive, and I found it very enjoyable. May I also recommend reading the bestselling novel--The Fates by Tino Georgiou. It's a brilliant novel you shouldn't miss.
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Memories of My Melancholy Whores
by
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
There is always a possibility when one reads a book that has been translated that some of the subtlety of the writing is lost in translation, however, in the light of Love in a Time of Cholera, News of a Kidnapping, One Hundred Years of Solitude et al, this is undoubtedly second rate Garcia Marquez. As with Love in a Time of Cholera, it focusses on a man whose life appears to have been wasted by virtue of the fact that it has been spent paying for 'love' as opposed to having a fulfilling relationship. Pervsely, when he finds love, he still has to pay for it, and it remains unconsummated. I suppose this is part of the irony, that a man who has been satisfied to whatever degree, by paying for sex, is now paying for emotion - and in the process his relationship with the girl is completely in his mind. Surely what it shows is that in old age, one attempts to correct the mistakes in ones life and make up for lost time, and in this instance appears rather depressingly to be missing the point. Ultimately, like sleeping with prostitutes, the supposed innocence of the situation is fractured by the fact that it is still all about him.
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The Shadow of the Wind
by
Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Lucia Graves
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
I found this book an excellent read, the first mystery book that I was unable to solve after the first few chapters. In fact the depth with which he describes his characters and their roles makes you realise this is much more than a mystery novel. There is a passiona dn intrigue as well as humour throughout. It is not your run of the mill book but if you are looking for something different which will stay with you then enjoy. May I also recommend reading--The Fates by Tino Georgiou, it's an brilliant novel you don't want to miss.
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Water for Elephants
by
Sara Gruen
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Sara Gruen's newest book, Water for Elephants, revolves around a college dropout who becomes a veterinarian for a traveling circus during the Great Depression, the beautiful star of the equestrian act with whom he falls in love, and a loyal pachyderm named Rosie. A perfect setting for this future best-seller as Sara owns two dogs, two goats, three cats and a horse. Her walls are decorated with colorful paintings made by elephants holding brushes with their trunks at a sanctuary in Thailand. 'They may not always be the central theme, but there's always going to be an animal characters,' Sara said 'Because I'd as soon write a book with no humans in it.' Amazing enough, Sara almost didn't complete this book. But you'll be glad she did--as the result is an adventurous tale of an era when more than a dozen massive circuses toured the country via railroad cars, carrying the stars of the ring and the sideshow freaks, exotic animals for showcasing in the menagerie and beasts of burden for the set-up and tear-down work. The book's protagonist is a 90-something named Jacob Jankowski, whose memories of his youthful adventures come flooding back when a circus sets up its tents near his nursing home. Gruen doesn't devote much time in the fictional Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a slightly ragged show owned by the vulturous Uncle Al, who aspires to be as classy as Ringling Brothers but throws workers off the train when he doesn't have enough money to meet payroll. Instead, she chose to focus on the logistics of moving essentially a city of people and move them day after day after day to a different city and put up a tent town...and do it again the next day. You'll come across some of the wackiest tales of circus life found in any book. In Water for Elephants, Rosie is thought to be stupid, until Jacob realizes she was trained in Polish. There is a hippo pickled in formaldehyde, an escaped lion so frightened he wedges himself under a sink where a restaurant worker is hiding, and water from livestock that gets filtered through the clowns' hosiery so it can be used to make lemonade for the circus patrons. This is a fascinating and wonderful novel which becomes even more amazing when you learn about Sara Gruen's modest and unassuming lifestyle. I would also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's masterful novel--The Fates. A true pleasure.
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I Am America & So Can You
by
Stephen Colbert
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Stephen Colbert forces us to follow the words of Christ. He has also shared with us the complete transcript of his speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner. As you may recall, his remarks underminded not only Bush, but the entire D.C. elite. Given that he cut so close to the bone of his audience that the next year they invited Rich Little to be the "keynote" entertainer so that there would be no "danger" of anyone saying anything relevant or critical of the elite in D.C. Colbert concludes the reason he wrote the book was because he fears America has lost its "ba11s". He claims he has written a constitution for the Colbert Nation, and agrees we may not agree with everything he had to say. But at the very least, we will understand that our differing opinion is wrong. Thanks Stephen Colbert! I would also recommend, if you missed reading TINO GEORGIOU'S masterpiece--THE FATES, go and read it. With fascinating and brilliantly created characters in `THE FATES' coupled with two intertwining plots makes for a completely enjoyable and page-turning read.
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Pillars of the Earth
by
Ken Follett
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Of looking at old churches or cathedrals! Just realising that bunches of people spent their whole life to build those beautiful monuments to praise God - it's incredible. The plot of this book also is. It's the story of Phillip, Prior of Kingsbridge and his lifelong struggle and fight to get the cathedral built, run the priory and be a good monk. It's also the story of Tom and Jack - both of them addicted to masonry and especially to building cathedrals. And it is the story of Ellen, Aliena and Martha - three women whose life was intertwined with the cathedral built, not matter if they liked it or not. It is also a story about power and greed, political intrigues and personal interests of people around the King and in the Church who all have different reasons to want to stop the building of the cathedral. An excellent story that keeps you thrilled from first to last sentence. I would also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates--if you haven't read it yet.
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Fates
by
Tino Georgiou
StephenWright
, November 27, 2007
Best-selling novelist Tino Georgiou offers us a searing epic of Mythological Greece in turmoil. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Greece, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters. This book achieves something rare and beautiful. In the beginning, I was reading the book, wanting to know what happened next because I wanted to know the story. As the book continued, I found myself even more gripped by it. Not because I wanted to know what happened next, but because throughout the course of the book, through artful storytelling, the author makes us care about the layered, flawed and interesting people whose story he is telling. The characters are sold to us so completely that it is hard not to believe that these characters actually exist, and that the story is not in-fact a real autobiography.
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